The Sunday Times
December 9, 2007

Andriy Shevchenko strikes form
Chelsea 2 Sunderland 0

Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea, deprived of Didier Drogba, beat a passive Sunderland team
without panache or excessive difficulty.

This was a game that posed three cogent questions. First, how would
Chelsea fare without Drogba? Second, would Sunderland be inhibited
rather than inspired by their demanding manager, Roy Keane? Third, how
would Andriy Shevchenko perform, now that he has been dragged from
outer darkness to take Drogba's place up front, all alone, when it was
widely expected the role would go to the Peru international, Claudio
Pizarro?

So far as Drogba was concerned, there was a surprise shortly before
kick-off when it was announced that the powerful and arguably
irreplaceable Ivory Coast centre-forward had undergone a knee
operation.

One way or another, Chelsea knew they were doomed to lose a player
hugely important to their success with the Africa Cup of Nations
looming in the new year. Drogba's fitness for that tournament is now
in doubt.

Chelsea were also without Michael Essien yesterday, but he seems sure
to go to the African tournament to play for Ghana. At Villa Park,
Harry Redknapp faces a similar problem. Players such as Sulley
Muntari, so prominent in yesterday's game and a goalscorer to boot,
will also be playing for Ghana.

As for Roy Keane, you wondered when he was appointed manager of
Sunderland whether his fierce perfectionism, the demands he makes not
only on himself but on the rest of his team, could have a negative
effect on players, few of whom could ever hope to reach his heights of
ability. Last season things worked out well enough for Sunderland who
were promoted to the Premier League. Lately, however, not least when
they crashed 7-1 at Everton, there have been voices that the
Sunderland players have indeed been somewhat overwhelmed by Keane's
forceful personality.

Shevchenko was bought by Chelsea for £30m from Milan but the mountain
of cash has produced a mere molehill of performance. He has not been
playing regulalry and there have been indications that he may even end
next season in Major League Soccer in America.

Yesterday it seemed to demand a great deal from Shevchenko to leave
him as the sole spearhead, but from the beginning he looked active and
effective. The game had scarcely begun when he sent a neat pass to
Salomon Kalou to spark a movement that forced Sunderland's reserve
keeper, Darren Ward, to somewhat nervously punch the ball out. Ward is
displacing the Scotland international keeper, Craig Gordon, who cost a
cool £9m, but seems to be suffering from a crisis of confidence.

After six minutes, Kalou headed solidly against the bar from Joe
Cole's corner. But on 23 minutes, it was Kalou who would send over the
left-wing cross that Shevchenko converted with a powerful header.

Sunderland eventually had a shot on goal in the 33rd minute, coming
from their towering lone striker Kenwyne Jones with a low, left-footed
shot onto which Carlo Cudicini threw himself.

But Chelsea were comfortably in command. Their manager, Avram Grant,
deployed the England international right-winger Shaun Wright-Phillips
as an inside-right. Quite what Steve Sidwell, starting on the bench,
thought of that, one can only guess. A key figure last season in the
Reading central midfield, he chose to move to Chelsea in the summer on
a free transfer. Reading plainly miss him, Chelsea seldom use him. No
doubt the move has been lucrative for him, but there are other
satisfactions even now in football.

Early in the second half, when the ball seemed to be running out of
play on the Chelsea left, Shevchenko, with a dynamic burst, retrieved
it, went past his man and sent in a cross that could well have brought
a goal.

It was a long time before we would see any more drama at either end.
On 75 minutes however, Chelsea would score a soft second. Frank
Lampard's free kick from the left provoked what referee Peter Walton
deemed a foul in the box by Danny Higginbotham pulling Alex's shirt. A
penalty was given and Lampard, who by and large on this wet afternoon
played what you might call a senatorial role, deep in midfield, when
he might have been expected to advance more often, put away the
spot-kick with no difficulty.

Sunderland's cup was well and truly full when Liam Miller, after a
challenge by Pizarro, stupidly pushed him in the face and was
consequently sent off.

It was a comfortable but inglorious victory for Chelsea, yet Drogba
will surely be seriously missed.

Player ratings

Chelsea: Cudicini 6, Belletti 6, Alex 6, Terry 7, A Cole 7, J Cole 7
(Sidwell 85min), Wright-Phillips 6, Lampard 6, Mikel 6, Kalou 6
(Pizarro 66min), Shevchenko 7 Star man: J Cole (Chelsea)

Sunderland: Ward 6, Halford 6, McShane 6, Higginbotham 6, Collins 6,
Miller 6, Etuhu 6, Leadbitter 6 (Stokes 70min), Whitehead 6, Wallace
6, Jones 6 (Murphy 67min)

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Telegraph:

Andrei Shevchenko's nous enough for Chelsea
By Duncan White at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea (1) 2 Sunderland (0) 0

Rattled by the news of Didier Drogba's knee operation, Chelsea's
support can hardly have been emboldened by the sight of the faded
talents of Andrei Shevchenko taking to the field. Yet the Ukrainian,
the one-time scourge of the meanest defenders in Serie A, showed that
while the legs may not work like they used to, the goal instinct has
not quite been extinguished.

With 23 minutes gone, and Sunderland barely showing the ambition to
get out of their own half, Shevchenko gave outlet to Chelsea's
building pressure. Salomon Kalou befuddled the hapless Greg Halford
before crossing left-footed to the far post. Shevchenko had found
space and dived to head expertly past Darren Ward.

"This has been his job since he was a little child," Avram Grant said.
"He knows how to do it. Shevchenko is a good striker - a great
striker. He knows how to score goals and is intelligent. I think Sheva
has scored five or six this year. Last year he scored 14 and everyone
was disappointed."

Well, he has scored four, but near enough. Still, replacing Drogba
will take more than one neat finish, and while Grant believes it is
"important" for Shevchenko to step up in Drogba's absence, it will
prove far more difficult against more trying opposition.

Scoring goals might not come easily if Drogba does not return until
late February; conceding them should not be a problem, however. John
Terry and Alex were masterful yesterday, and with Petr Cech on the
cusp of return it will take serious adventure to get in behind a team
who are now 15 games unbeaten.

While the scoreline remained respectable, this was never really a
competitive fixture. Chelsea swamped their opponents, dominating
possession and restricting Roy Keane's side to the tamest of efforts
at goal.

Chelsea buried Sunderland under lashings of early corners, with Kalou
heading a Joe Cole outswinger onto the crossbar with just five minutes
gone. Dean Whitehead bundled into the back of Shaun Wright-Phillips in
the area minutes later and was lucky to get away with it.

Still, after Shevchenko had opened the scoring, Chelsea relented and
did not score again until Frank Lampard converted a penalty 15 minutes
from time. Alex had his shirt tugged by Danny Higginbotham as he tried
to reach Lampard's free-kick and referee Peter Walton was decisive.

Keane said he had not seen the infringement but he certainly was
unhappy about the circumstances surrounding Liam Miller's late red
card. Miller challenged Terry and was confronted by Claudio Pizarro in
the aftermath, only for the Irish midfielder to foolishly push the
Chelsea substitute in the face.

"I'm not happy about the way Terry and Pizarro made a big issue out of
it," Keane said. "It was a foul, yes, but there was no nastiness in
it. It is in the last minute of the game. Of course, if you raise your
hands there is no option but I felt the ref could have stepped in five
seconds earlier. The reaction from Terry and Pizarro disappoints me."

While Sunderland fought hard, only Lampard's late shot against the
post threatened to take the score beyond the bounds of the
respectable. They will also be recruiting in January, to try to haul
themselves out of the relegation mire. "This is the toughest league in
the world," Keane said, "perhaps not technically, but physically and
mentally it is so demanding. We certainly need to strengthen the
squad. I've said that about nine million times this season."

Match summary
Moment of the match: He might not have had many moments to savour at
Stamford Bridge but when Shevchenko leapt acrobatically to dive and
head in Salomon Kalou¹s fine left-footed cross, he must have thought
things were finally going his way. In the absence of Didier Drogba,
Chelsea will need many more moments like that over the coming weeks.
Rating: 6/10

This was routine stuff for Chelsea as a limited Sunderland side
struggled to mount the merest threat to the hosts. Chelsea have gone
71 games unbeaten at Stamford Bridge and when Andriy Shevchenko headed
in after 23 minutes that never looked like changing. Frank Lampard¹s
penalty with 15 minutes to go finished things off.


Man of the match
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

• One goal
• Three shots
• 71 passes
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Shevchenko rewarded for Chelsea's hard shift


Stuart Barnes
Sunday December 9, 2007
The Observer


Andriy Shevchenko would be the first to admit that his time at Chelsea
has been a big disappointment, falling far short of what he hoped for
and what the club expected in return for a £30million transfer fee.
Appearances have been sporadic, match-winning performances even less
so. But for once he has delivered, and now has the chance to play a
significant role in his team's season.
Didier Drogba, the player who has overshadowed him, has undergone an
operation on his knee. Manager Avram Grant says the extent of Drogba's
lay-off will become clear 'in the next two or three days'. But the
likelihood is that he will miss several games. That leaves Shevchenko
the opportunity to lead the attack, and if he can reproduce the
performance that went a long way to winning this match, then Chelsea's
bid for domestic honours could survive the absence of their leading
scorer.

The Ukrainian delivered the breakthrough with a diving header and
throughout showed some of the technique and touches so conspicuous by
their absence at Chelsea so far. 'I wouldn't mind him in my team,'
said Roy Keane after overworked Sunderland stayed in touch until Frank
Lampard's second from the penalty spot.
'It is not easy to play without so many key players,' said Grant, who
had to contend with injuries all season, before the loss of Drogba,
who wanted the trouble cleared up in time for the African Cup of
Nations.

'Shevchenko came in and did well for us. It was not easy against a
side defending so well, but we dominated the game, moved the ball well
and showed patience.'

Keane took a philosophical view of the penalty, conceded for
shirt-pulling, and the late sending-off of Liam Miller for pushing
Claudio Pizarro in the face after the substitute and John Terry had
reacted to a Miller tackle.

'When the ball comes into the box like that there is every chance of
the decision going for the home team,' he said. 'The penalty killed
the game for us. At 1-0 you are always in with a chance.

'Raising your hands doesn't give the referee much choice. I just felt
it could have been avoided if he had acted five or six seconds earlier
before Terry and Pizarro got involved.

'We were a lot more solid than in the last away game, although that
was probably not hard. I'm not sure Chelsea got out of second gear,
but we know that anything we achieve against the top sides is a bonus.
It's how we do against the others that matters.'

Keane, who dropped his £9m record goalkeeper Craig Gordon after the
7-1 drubbing at Everton, persisted here with Darren Ward and was
grateful for the fact that Ward stood up well to the barrage of
pressure that Chelsea mounted from the start.

Ward made two authoritative punched clearances as Shevchenko
instigated early attacks that brought three corners in quick
succession. From the third, delivered by Joe Cole, Salomon Kalou rose
above defenders to send a header crashing against the face of the
crossbar.

The pressure, however, had to tell and with 23 minutes gone the ball
was worked out wide to the left for Kalou to cross and Shevchenko to
connect with a diving header for his second goal of the season. Soon
after, a 25-yard angled volley from Juliano Belletti thudded into the
chest of Ward, who did well to hold on to it.

At last there was work for Chelsea's Carlo Cudicini, who smothered a
low shot from Kenwyne Jones, who had engineered himself a position on
the edge of the penalty box. It was an isolated Sunderland threat.

Shevchenko got on the end of another Kalou cross. This time the
position was difficult and the pressure from defenders considerable,
and he had to be satisfied with a corner after his header was
deflected behind. When Ward failed to clear Belletti's cross,
Shevchenko was in the thick of it again, hooking a volley wide.

Increasingly heavy rain meant that the ball was beginning to hold up
on the sodden surface. This, together with Sunderland coming forward
with more ambition, threatened to frustrate their opponents further.

Instead, Peter Walton ruled that Alex had his shirt pulled by Danny
Higginbotham as Lampard played the ball in, and Lampard struck the
spot-kick with his customary confidence.

The goal took the wind out of Sunderland's sails and they were reduced
to 10 men near the end when the red mist descended on Miller.

There was still some action to come, and Lampard almost added a third
for Chelsea in stoppage time, but his shot hit the post.
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Mail:

'New' Chelsea sneak back into title race without their star Drogba

By IAN RIDLEY

And so comes the hard part for Chelsea. Without fuss,and without even
much attention on them — for a change — they are hauling themselves
back into the title race.

Now they have to sustain it without Didier Drogba. Drogba, so often
their focal point, had an operation yesterday morning on a persistent
knee injury and is likely to be sidelined for up to five weeks as
Chelsea enter the crucial Christmas period that can make or break
seasons. After that, the Ivory Coast striker is due to be away at the
African Cup of Nations, possibly until almost mid-February.

In his absence, Andriy Shevchenko seized a rare chance to start and
grabbed the goal that set them on their way to another efficient but
hardly exciting victory over a toothless Sunderland, who had Liam
Miller sent off late on. Frank Lampard's penalty confirmed the win
that take Chelsea to within three points of the summit ahead of
Arsenal's game at Middlesbrough.

It also stretched Chelsea's unbeaten run since Avram Grant's quiet
management replaced Jose Mourinho's chattering talents to 15 games and
their home League record — dating back to Claudio Ranieri — to 71
games without defeat. Retaining such a lofty position through more
demanding challenges without Drogba will be an interesting test of
Grant and Chelsea, however.

"In the last three months we have played without Petr Cech, John Terry
and Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho for certain periods but we have
played well and look like a team," said the Israeli manager.

"It won't be easy to play without Drogba but I didn't come to this
club for an easy life. Shevchenko is a great striker and I am happy
that he played well and scored a goal. Claudio Pizarro is also doing
well in training and we have Salomon Kalou, so that's three strikers."

In what may well be a difference of opinion within the club, Grant had
clearly hoped to have Drogba available for next Sunday's game Arsenal
but instead the fiercelyproud Ivory Coast captain chose to bring
forward his surgery to be available for the African tournament, which
starts on January 20.

Not that Chelsea needed him yesterday. Quite apart from Drogba, they
were still without a host of first-choice players whom they hope will
be closer to fitness for next Sunday — Cech, Carvalho and Florent
Malouda — but still had more than enough to see off Sunderland, who
looked overawed and even grateful to have avoided the seven-goal
thrashing they suffered at Everton recently.

"The penalty killed the game for us," said Sunderland manager Roy
Keane. "At 1-0 you are always in with a chance but when you come to
Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool and there is a coming
together in the box, it usually goes to the home side."

The boot is certainly on the other foot these days for the former
Manchester United captain.

It always looked likely to be one of those routine days at Stamford
Bridge. Intent was sounded when Kalou thumped a header from Joe Cole's
corner against the crossbar and the inevitable goal arrived with the
game nearly a quarter old. The impressive Juliano Belletti delivered a
raking crossfield ball from the right-back position that found Kalou
and from his chipped cross, Shevchenko stretched to head home only his
second League goal of the season.

It was damage-limitation for Sunderland after that. Dickson Etuhu — a
big miss for them, too, when he goes to the African Nations with
Nigeria — worked manfully in midfield and there was defiance, if
little by way of creativity.

In the first half, Kenwyne Jones did force Carlo Cudicini into a low
save with a long shot, while Greg Halford also shot straight into the
keeper's arms in the second. But they were isolated attempts.
Otherwise, it developed into a predictable probing by Chelsea.

The game-sealing goal arrived in the 75th minute when Lampard swung in
a free-kick and Danny Higginbotham was judged to have pulled back
Alex. Lampard converted the penalty and almost claimed another with a
shot that hit the post soon after.

As the game drifted, unnecessary enlivenment came when, after Miller's
tackle on Terry had prompted an angry reaction, Miller responded to a
sly nudge by Pizarro with a push right under referee Peter Walton's
nose."Once you raise your hands, you don't give a choice to referees,"
said Keane. "It seems you're not allowed to tackle the England captain
and I thought they made too much of a fuss of it."
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